Chapter Five
On Blood-Dimmed Tides: Vampires Bloodline: Tregarthen by The Kings Raven The Tregarthen are forced into a life of perpetual nomadism by their Bloodline curse. They unlive their Requium on the high seas, feeding upon a crew of blood bound thralls and studying their unholy wizardry. When they desire something they appear like the pirate raiders of old. They strike without warning, hitting hard with wizardry and a fanatical crew led by spiritually enhanced officers. Or they strike with their reputation and possession of more secrets than any stranger should have, secrets ferreted out by spiritual spies. After they’ve stolen, traded or intimidated their way into possession of what they want, they vanish like fog under the midday sun. The spiritually aware Circle of the Crone are the covenant best placed to predict and react to a Tregarthen raid. Their prophets and witches can spot the spiritually modified scouts and spies of a Tregarthen captain long before he lands. For their own part the Tregarthen, when they join a Covenant, avoid the Circle, as well as the Sanctum. The Bloodline claims to have defeated gods, more likely they were cursed by one, and either way they have little interest in worshiping any deity. The Ordo Dracul’s belief in fighting god sits well with the Bloodline’s own beliefs and experimentation fills those long hours at sea, making it the most popular Covenant. But most Tregarthen are unaligned, the sea is a lonely place. Clan: Mekhet Nicknames: Vampirates Bloodline Bane: The sun is the enemy of all vampires, but none more so than the Tregarthen. The Tregarthen must always be travelling, for if they don’t the sun will find them, and it will kill them. After remaining in place for three days, a column of sunlight one hundred yards in diameter appears centered on the Tregarthen. This column remains at night and penetrates any amount of solid matter. It will follow the Tregarthen until final death. Make no mistake, once the sun finds a Tregarthen final death is quick and inevitable. Fortunately, then, the Tregarthen can hide. If they travel 100 miles over water, 200 miles under the cover of fog, or fifty miles over water and under the cover of fog, the counter resets. The Tregarthen must end this trip at least 50 miles from anywhere they have stayed for over a day in the last year. After two and a half days in Torpor the Bloodline curse ceases to apply until the vampire wakes again. Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Majesty, Resilience, Obfuscation Bloodline Sorcery: Nahualli Wizardry The wizards the Tregarthen once were, and still are, could summon spirits and bind them to their bidding. The sorcerers that the Tregarthen stole from would dream their way into the spirit realm, to capture spirits and take claim their powers as their own. The Tregarthen do both at once. Like wizards, they summon spirits and bind them into human victims. Like the Nahualli sorcerers, well a vampire can’t bond with a spirit, but once the spirit is trapped in a ritually prepared living human: All it takes is a sip. Cost: A Nahualli Wizardry ritual has half the cost of a Theban Sorcery ritual of an equivalent level combined with half the cost of a Curac ritual of an equivalent level. A ritual’s Vitae cost is a net cost after any ritualistic feeding. In addition every ritual requires a blood bound victim who will host the summoned Spirit. They must have signals carved into their flesh, be anointed with toxic sacraments, fed ritually poisoned Vitae, or just fed upon. This costs one Lethal damage per dot of the ritual. Themes: With Evocation '''the Vampire summons a spirit with Influence over their target, then drinks deeply from the spirit’s host. Through an evocation ritual a Tregarthen can exert his will over objects, animals, and even the very forces of nature. With '''Invocation '''the Vampire summons as spirit into a person, then painfully binds the two together permanently. Invocation creates Claimed, but a skilled Tregarthen can control exactly how the Claiming manifests, creating servants for their needs. The first change is always to remove any protection against Blood Bonding that the Claimed might naturally have. By spilling the sacrifice's blood Invocation can also force Spirits to Claim inanimate objects, imbuing them with supernatural power. '''Devotions The following Devotions require a Tregarthen to use Nahualli Wizardry and then drink the victim dry, permanently imbuing themselves with some of a spirit’s power. To Asupex this looks similar too, but clearly distinct from, diablerie. What Vampire’s don’t know they fear, especially if it resembles diablerie. Fear often leads to violence, but with the Tregarthen, perhaps not often enough. Many of these rituals require feeding on the spirit of the ship, While the human victim is drunk dry only part of the spirit’s essence is stolen, and spirits can recover from most things, in short you may acquire multiple ship based devotions. Pulse of the Invisible: All spirits can see others of their own kind, and by ritually consuming a spirit the Tregarthen gains the ability to see spirits in Twilight. This ability costs one Vitae and lasts a scene. Pulse of the Invisible is free to all Tregarthen. All members of the bloodline are given the gift by their Avus. Dutchman’s Vessel: By feeding upon the spirit of their own ships the Tregarthen permanently bond themselves to their craft. Their undead resilience permeates the hull. The ship’s durability increases by Resilience, and it’s structure increases by Resilience + Blood Potency + Invocation. As with Resilience itself, this power manifests as a supernatural ability to ignore damage. Prerequisites: Resilience one, Invocation three. Captain’s Eye: By feeding upon the spirit of their own ship a Tregarthen may gain absolute awareness of of everything aboard her craft. The very timbers are an extension of her senses. She may reflexively shift her viewpoint to anywhere upon the ship. So long as the captain is aboard her craft, using Beast’s Hackles and asking if a vampire present is using Auspex five always says yes regardless of where the captain is focusing her attention. Prerequisites: Auspex two, Invocation one. Fog’s Loyal Protection: Through feeding on a powerful spirit of fog, and anointing their own ship as part of the ritual, the vampire gains a potent ability. They may activate Touch of Shadow upon their entire ship. Drawback: While their ship is hidden it will generate it’s own fog-bank. While fog is useful for hiding from the Bloodline’s Curse it is also distinctly unnatural in most weathers and can draw unwanted attention. The ship is protected by Touch of Shadow, the fog is not. Prerequisites: Obscurification five, Evocation three. Dutchman’s Fate: By summoning the spirit of their ship into the same body as a conceptual spirit of undeath then feeding on both a Tregarthen may permanently link her unlife to his ship. At the culmination of the ritual she cuts out her own heart, which transforms into beating wood. After acquiring Dutchman's Fate a Tregarthen will, upon falling into torpor or final death, crumble into ash to revive upon their ship the next night with all her Health boxes bar one filled with Aggravated damage. The only way to permanently kill her is to destroy her heart or her ship. She is also immune to staking, as she has no heart in her chest to stake. Dutchman’s Fate is no defence against the Bloodline’s curse. Should the sun find her once, then it will be waiting and strike again the moment she revives. Should the sun strike her wooden heart it will immediately burst into flames, so the second death is usually final. Drawback: It is hard to be away from ones own heart. If the Tregarthen is not on her ship she may no longer spend Vitae to activate her Resilience or to heal wounds, nor may she spend Vitae to activate other abilities that serve a similar function. Should she be on dry land (a pier or other artificial structure above the water does not count), she also loses the passive benefits of Resilience. If the heart is ever removed from the ship, a Tregarthen immediately suffers both drawbacks until it is returned. If she is destroyed while the heart is away from her ship she will not revive until it is returned. If her ship is destroyed the Tregarthen suffers Final Death. Prerequisites: Resilience five, Invocation five. Hunter Super_Dave “I am hunger as ancient as the waves and remorseless as the hurricane. I swim eternally in a sea of blood, and out of that salty womb I emerge fully-formed and perfect unto myself. Rejoice, for by your deaths you nourish a legend far greater than you could ever dare to be.” Background Prior to his Embrace, Hunter fancied himself “a true intellectual in the Classical Greek mode”, combining an athlete’s intuitive self-knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for Truth. Embraced by an unknown Gangrel during a hunting trip, Hunter suddenly found that Nietzche had been more right than he realized: the world really was divided into Übermenschen and Untermenschen, into alpha studs and beta cucks; he just hadn’t realized that all humans were betas, and the Kindred were the true, hidden alphas of the world. Treating his Requiem as a philosophical quest for Ultimate Reality, Hunter fit in neatly with the philosopher-kings and warrior-poets of the Ordo Dracul, but he was haunted by the questions raised by his Embrace: if the driving force of life is a Nietzschean wille zur macht ("will to power"), then what is the driving force of un-life? After a few years of contemplation, Hunter arrived at an answer which finally satisfied him. In defining “will to power” as an instinct for growth and durability, he decided that the solution to the vampiric curse was not (as the Ordo Dracul claimed) to transcend it, but to embrace it: to perform one’s Requiem with total conviction, without compromise or apology to anyone. Looking to nature for inspiration, Hunter found his totem in the shark: an antediluvian predator which had barely changed since the seas themselves were young; a perfect, remorseless killing machine whose only goal was survival and whose only morality was to feed. Hunter spent years subjecting himself to bizarre fleshcrafting rituals, molding and shaping his undead flesh to more closely resemble that of his selachian spirit-animal. Eventually he abandoned mortal and vampiric company altogether, disappearing into the sea for weeks on end, and eventually for months. Now he cruises up and down the coast, from city to city and coastal village to coastal village, his unnaturally sharp senses always on the lookout for any human unfortunate enough to be alone near the waterfront at night. Appearance For most of his prey, their first (and usually last) impression is that of a naked, hairless, humanoid monster, with sallow skin and black pupil-less eyes (complete with nictitating membranes that blink laterally when he’s about to feed). Hunter is entirely bald, lacking even eyebrows or eyelashes, and covered from head to food in microscopic denticles which cause his skin to feel like sandpaper. Hunter smells of fish and seawater (he’s usually dripping with it), and his breath smells strongly of blood. His mouth is a horror of jagged, irregular teeth which stick out at odd angles, sometimes piercing his own lips and cheeks. Eschewing clothing and other trappings of Men, Hunter is always completely naked. Everything that’s not hydrodynamic has been surgically removed, from his hair to his now-useless genitals. When underwater, Hunter usually spends his time living as a ghostly-white shark (the exact species of which is left to the Storyteller’s discretion), except that during daysleep and Torpor he must revert to human form. Storytelling Hints Despite his animalistic appearance, Hunter is not stupid. He might not be a genius, but he’s nobody’s fool, either. He still remembers enough of his philosophy studies to make a disturbingly coherent argument for his actions; he simply has no reason to do so in most cases. If challenged to defend his thesis, it may be possible to distract or anger him, redirecting his attention for a time. Like his totem the shark, Hunter cannot remain still for any length of time (outside of feeding). When he feeds, Hunter almost always chooses to voluntarily enter hunger frenzy and “ride the wave” (VtR pg 178), reveling in the coppery spray of blood and the gurgling screams of the dying. In the rare cases where Hunter needs to retreat, he plunges into the sea, bites himself to get blood in the water, and then summons all nearby sharks to the area, creating a melee of blood and foaming water to cover his escape and discourage pursuit. Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Presence 3, Manipulation 1, Composure 2. Skills: Athletics (Swimming) 3, Brawl (Underwater) 3, Stealth 3, Survival (Aquatic) 3, Academics (Philosophy) 3, Investigation 2, Science (Oceanography) 2, Animal Ken (Sea Creatures) 2, Intimidation 4. Clan: Gangrel Covenant: Ordo Dracul (formerly), The Unaligned (currently) Virtue: Fortitude Vice: Gluttony Merits: Danger Sense 2, Fleet of Foot 3, Haven 2 (undersea grotto) Derangements: Bulimia (VtR p188), Obsessive Compulsion (“always keep moving”) Disciplines: Auspex ●, Animalism ●●●●, Protean ●●●●, Resilience ●, Coils of the Dragon (Blood ●, Beast ●●) Devotions: Partial Transformation Flaws: Painful Bite (victims remain conscious and will struggle) Blood Potency: 3 Humanity: 1 Defense: 3 Health: 8 Size: 5 Speed: 14 Initiative: 5 Willpower: 4 Gear & Equipment Hunter carries no equipment on his person, but he compulsively swallows one memento of every victim he kills, possibly as a way of absorbing their spiritual essence, or as a show of dominance. If the players cut open his stomach, they will find it contains a bizarre assortment of objects including license plates, wrist watches, dog collars, wallets, cell phones, money, tattered bits of clothing, and perhaps even a magical item such as a fetish or Token. Attacks Damage Range Dice Pool Special Brawl 0 (B) engaged Strength + Brawl n/a Bite 2 (L) engaged Dexterity + Brawl n/a Sea-Wolves and Salty Dogs: Werewolves Secrets of the Deep: Mages Dead Man's Chest: Prometheans The Flying Dutchman Background The Dutchman is cursed, cursed to sail forever never finding a home. It's true but it's also just how things are when you're a Promethean. The first memory Captain Van der Decken has, and the only memory of his body's previous owner, was of sailing into a terrifying Storm. As the ship shattered around him, he heard an angel cry "Go Back!". Go back he did, his next memory is of washing up on the shore, bearing the divine fire within his soul. The captain, just Van in those days, began his pilgrimage as follower of Aurum. He attempted to reach the New Dawn through acts of charity and kindness and every time those he wished to help repaid him with Disquiet. Something snapped in the young Created and he renounced all contact with humanity. Even then he was impressively persuasive and convinced his throng of his new vision. They stole a ship to be their new home, a home that could travel with them ahead of the wasteland, ahead of disquiet, ahead of the cruel world itself. Description Captain Van der Decken appears as a weather beaten middle-aged man with a proper sea captain's beard. He favors a pea coat with a fisherman's cap and is never seen without his corncob pipe in which he smokes a brew of his own devising made from seaweed. When his disfigurement's show the Captain appears to have mummified from too much sea air, so much salt has piled up in his body that entire patches of his skin have calcified. Secrets Abandoning dry land may have been the worst decision Captain Van der Decken ever made. He's a good man, he's led his Throng to a safe stable life and he always has room on-board to help a fellow Created but while he has helped other Created move towards their own Mortality he and his throng have stalled in their quest. Seven Ages of Man knows this, he is plagued by dreams that call him back to Aurum but even after all these years he still cannot face torment, he cannot face disquiet. Every time the dreams end he calls himself a fool and a coward, then he sails onward, cursed to do so by no one but himself. Storytelling Hints If he can help it Captain Van der Decken will only allow another Promethean upon his ship, normal humans still make him very uncomfortable and even other supernaturals make him uneasy. However if he spots one adrift or trapped on an island his morals won't let him ignore them. He would however be comfortable with locking them in a cabin – for their own safety. It's a sensible precaution but that doesn’t stop it being terrifying. To a fellow Promethean he's chatty, kind and willing, perhaps even eager, to offer help on the Pilgrimage. A sort of voyeuristic Pilgrimage by proxy. At first he comes across as happy with his life filled with tails of storms weathered, near misses and weird encounters upon the sea. As the conversation progresses little hints of his inner turmoil appear, talk of mortals causes his ears to perk up perhaps even a little too much and his diatribes about the unfairness of disquiet seem to be aimed at himself more than anyone. 'Captain Van der Decken' Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 4, Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Presence 3, Manipulation 2, Composure 2. Skills: Crafts 3 (shipwright), Medicine 1, Occult 1, Science 2 (Navigation), Athletics 2, Drive 3 (Sailing) Firearms 1, Survival 2 (Ocean), Weaponry 1, Animal Ken 2, Empathy 4 (Throng), Intimidation 1, Persuasion 4 (Throng), Socialise 1 (Prometheans). Lineage: Extempore (For mechanical purposes Van can be treated as one of the Wretched) Bestowment: Unholy Strength Refinement: Aes Athanor: Ant Azoth: 3 Humanity: 7 Defense: 2 Health: 8 Size: 5 Speed: 10 Initiative: 6 Willpower: 6 Merits: Danger Sense (2), Direction Sense (1), Elpis (1), Repute (2), Sheppard (4), Weatherproof (1). Transmutations: Alchemicus — Forging the Master's Tools (•), Fortification (••), Transformation (•••), Alteration (•••), Persistent Change (••••); Benefice — Helping Hand (•), Many Hands Make Light Work (•), Share Pyros (••), Able Worker (•••), The Community of Power (••••), The Fortified Compact (•••••); Consortium — Never Too Far (•), My Brother’s Burden (••), We are One (•••), Unspoken Words (••••), What’s Mine is Yours (•••••); Corporeum — Autonomic Control (•), Ingrained Reflexes (••), Uncanny Dexterity (••); Deception — Color of Man (•); Metamorphosis — Blessing of Tethys (••); Sensorium — Bloodhound’s Nose (•), Weather Eye (•), Nightsight (••); Vitality — Might (••). Warrant Officer Mikhaylov Background Warrant Officer Mikhaylov is a figure of some mystery. He doesn't speak much about his past. Maybe he doesn't remember much. Maybe he doesn't like to remember. Maybe what little he does remember is a bunch of romanticized delusions: decades of crushing solitude do wonders on the mind. Warrant Officer Mikhaylov was (probably) born somewhere in the old Soviet Union (probably) during the early fifties. That is, the person he is now was born. The person he was before might have been born before that. He thinks he used to be a scientist, or a mechanic. He loves machines more than he does human beings (...literally), and frankly, he is quite brilliant with them. He wandered for many years from place to place, working with technology to earn his living, but wherever he went the people around him quickly sickened and died. This caused him great sorrow. He loved machines, but he didn't hate people. But the past matters little to him. The present is what's important, and in the present, he is a proud crew member of the TK-235, a Typhoon-class nuclear submarine of the glorious Soviet Navy, which he calls Nadia. The only crew member, in fact, since Nadia sunk some thirty years ago and the rest of the crew have been all dead for at least as long. How did he come to the submarine? He won't tell. Maybe he found it through rumor and research, and thought it would be a good place to live in where he won't sicken the people around him. He did always like peace and quiet. Or maybe he came as a crew member, driven by his love of complex machinery, and under his influence the rest of the crew were driven into a paranoid insanity until something went catastrophically wrong. This would make some sense. He is called "Warrant Officer Mikhaylov", after all. He insists on being referred to as such, at least. He spends most of his days around the decaying reactor room, speaking with Nadia and taking care of her, since she is very sick right now. Sometimes he goes for short walks on the ocean floor nearby. The darkness and the cold provide a nice balance to the heat and the glow of the reactor room. Warrant Officer Mikhaylov says that one day he will help Nadia get better and she will take him somewhere beautiful. Right now she simply needs rest and his care. The odds of this ever actually happening are probably not very big, however, since one man, no matter how talented, could ever handle such an operation by himself. But maybe he doesn't know that, or maybe he doesn't care. Deep down on the ocean floor there still lives, somewhere, a poor radioactive zombie-man, in love with a broken submarine. 'Warrant Officer Mikhaylov' Attributes: Intelligence 4, Wits 1, Resolve 3, Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4, Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 3. Skills: Computer 2, Crafts 4 (Nadia), Medicine 2, Occult 1, Science 3 (Nuclear Science), Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Firearms 2, Larceny 1, Stealth 1, Survival 3, Animal Ken 1, Empathy 3 (Machines). Lineage: Zeka Bestowment: Radioactive Affinity Refinement: Cuprum Athanor: Cyborg (Crafts) Azoth: 3 Humanity: 4 Defense: 1 Health: 9 Size: 5 Speed: 13 Initiative: 7 Willpower: 6 Merits: Acid Stomach 1, Danger Sense 2, Good Brain 3, Lair (Size 3, Security 3), Residual Memories 2 (Crafts, Science) Unpalatable Aura 2, Weatherproof 1. Transmutations: Alchemicus — Forging the Master's Tools (•), Fortification (••); Electrification — Jolt (•); Irradiation — Flashburn (•), Blast (••), Blue Flash (••), Fallout (••), Reduce Radiation (•••), Homunculus (••••); Metamorphosis — Natural Weaponry (•), Blessing of Tethys (••), Clayflesh (•••); Vulcanus — Sense Flux (•); Weapons: Natural Claws (1L) roll 6 dice. Assault Rifle (4L), roll 10 dice. Scurvy Sea Dogs and Fair Mermaidens: Changelings and Fae First Flower Cove Background Imagine the Changelings who first crossed the Atlantic, bringing the Seasonal Courts to a uncharted frontiers. What will they find when they pushed back the borders of the map? Trade? Assuredly. Danger? Most likely. Dragons? Probably not. Even as the ships first set sail powerful interests began to form around the new venture. The Spring Court saw new opportunities while the Silent Arrow sought to move transportation away from the prying eyes of the Gentry. Together Spring and Winter formed a joint venture, the First Flower Compact named for the crossing of the two Seasons. The Winter Courtiers were well versed in the arts of secrecy and security. They found a hidden cave, large enough to sail a ship and asked it for entrance. They began building and warding a Hollow on that very spot. The followers of the Antler Crown, freshly returned from America, contributed their magic to the endeavor. It certainly wasn't easy but soon this simple Hollow had a doorway on two continents. That was supposed to be it. One Hollow, two Doors and a very nice shortcut across the ocean. Subsequent generations added to it. Smugglers needing to hide their contraband were the first, First Flower Cove was such a convenient location it would be a shame to let it go to waste. The merchants followed shortly afterwords building their own warehouses and even piers for unloading. Once sailors were beginning to spend extended periods the siren call of customers began to attract more permanent establishments. The Hobs came later, by the time they arrived First Flower Cove was a small town in it's own right, there were just too many people coming and going to keep the secret. Description First Flower Cove is a sea town of about one hundred homes nestled in a small cove at the base of white cliffs. The entire Hollow is permanently in the bosom of a warm moonlit night and glows with bonfires and well lit homes. The air smells of cheep booze. The population is around two thirds hobs, most of which resemble Ogres or Wizened. The rest are divided equally between Changeling and Mortal. Some – more the mortals than the Changelings – are slaves in name or in practice. The others are here because no one else would have them. They're criminals on the run, vagabonds with nowhere else to go and generally the dregs of society. Rounding off the population is a small smattering of miscellany, Vampires, Hybrids, Sin-Eaters and even odder inhabitants of the World of Darkness. Most wear First Flower Cove's traditional attire: A random mismatch of different sailors attire from the 16th to the mid 19th century. The town itself was built by smugglers and it looks it: The buildings ramshackle held together by jury rigged repairs, spit and Glamour. The streets are a disorganized jumble, sometimes it seems every other building is a cheep seedy bar or a brothel. You can't go two streets without seeing drunken revelry or drunken violence. Vice is certainly the backbone of the economy. The docks are calmer than the rest of the town, settled under a peace enforced by the watchful eyes of the captains. The dockyards do a surprisingly stable trade in sailing supplies. Everything from iron cannon balls to bunker fuel is sold. Local craftsmen are willing and able to work on any ship for a price. Wood, metal or other. Most of the visiting sailors are hobs, arriving from some other part of the hedge but there's usually a couple of Changeling ships in town and even ordinary mortals; smugglers, drug runners, aged sailors versed in the sea's folklore and even spies all take a short cut through First Flower Cove. Not all make port though. Storytelling Hints Tales of grandiose daring and adventure are very much a part of Changeling: the Lost. This is true as true upon the waves as it is on land. The golden age of such sailors myth was the age of sail, when ships were crewed by men with the strength of their backs and the wind at their tail. The lost can be delightfully anachronistic at times and generally favor stories over logic, it would be little surprise to see Changelings go to see decked out in tricorn hats and First Flower Cove exists to facilitate this kind of story. It's a place a Lost would be sailor can sign onto a ship, a captain can find a crew and no matter your rank it's a place to trade rumors, stories, discoveries, plot hooks and get very very drunk. The cove services nicely as the central hub for an ocean set story. Anyone can catch a glimpse of it while lost at sea in fog while it's many Doors mean that it's located in several oceans at once. It's a place that can tie characters together with shared stories of the one time they saw it's lights in the fog and where salty sailors from all over the world can bump elbows. Even landlubbers may wish to visit, with all the smugglers and people from exotic corners of the world and beyond there's a lot of goods and contraband passing through. While First Flower Cove can't rival a true Goblin Market (at least not usually, travelling Goblin Markets do visit) the inhabitants are mostly sailors not merchants. Even when they're sober they couldn't match the Goblin Merchants skill at bargaining, and they're probably not sober. A skilled negotiator will probably have a much easier time getting a good deal, if someone has what they want. 'First Flower Cove' Hollow Size: 5, an entire town and some surrounding environs. Amenities 2: affluence varies, some people live in abject poverty (Amenities 0) while others are quite well-off (Amenities 3), but the average is Amenities 2. Wards 4: Approach by land requires descending sheer cliffs by way of a small trail to reach the cove, entrance from the hedge sea is protected by perpetual fog and treacherous reefs. Workshop 1: Shipwrights. Mobile Hollow 1: The entire cove even vanishes once a month, every new moon, and reappears at the bottom of some other Hedge cliff. First Flower Cove has Doors 5, its entrances are: *From the Hedge by land, a small trail from the top of the cliff. Semi-wild hobgoblin rooster like birds live along the cliffs and when they sight an intruder their crows are loud enough to be heard across the entire cove. *From the Hedge by sea. The path is hidden by perpetual fog and studded with sharp reefs. *From western Ireland. The original entrance is a sea cave large enough for a modest ship to sail into. The key is to throw a personal effect of a drowned sailor into the water and shout “And I hope you choke on him!”. This is called The First Door. *From eastern seaboard of North America you can reach First Flowers Cove by sailing between a large natural arch. Because the key is to sail through the arch with an Anchor on the sea bed (a slack chain is fine) this is called The Locker Door. *From the Caribbean there is an entrance from another sea cave. The cave is in treacherous waters and the key is to sail in while blindfolded and blind drunk earning it the name Dead Man's Door. (This is stupid enough to reduce characters to an automatic Chance Die. Everyone who uses this door Successfully has some supernatural edge like the Beneficent Fate Clause) *From the south of Turkey you can sail into a natural cove. The captain must lead the crew in a toast to “Wine, Women and Welcomes” followed by firing the guns in salute. The crew will experience a sensation not unlike déjà vu and realize what they thought was natural rock is in fact the town. This is called The Customer's Door. *The final door is from South East China and is found in the entrance to an inlet. To open the gate you only need to flick a bronze coin into the sea and touch your hat respectfully. For obscure and probably nonsense reasons this is called the Washerwoman's Door. Ritual Door: There is one final way to get entrance for First Flower Cove. Finding the Door is surprisingly easy, you just need to be lost in fog at sea. Sailing around randomly for a short while with any navigation equipment turned off is enough. This will make the cove appear as lights in the distance. Actually reaching it is harder to pull of by dumb luck. You must poor alcohol, the cheaper the better, on a mechanical compass. It's needle will guide you to the cove, in a direction that has no relation to where you can see it. Tales Told by Dead Men: Sin-Eaters, Ghosts, and Geists Ghost Ships Those sailors who spend their lives at sea will hear stories of the rare few ships who sail on with tattered decks and patchwork sales run by a literal skeleton crew. These are ghost ships, forever doomed to sail the salty seas until they can fulfill their ancient charters. A Ghost Ship is an Anchor to a large amount of ghosts. Like all Anchors it can be destroyed or resolved. Typically a Ghost Ship originally set sail with a goal, weather that goal was piracy, war, or trade. Ships that lack such a goal rarely have a large amount of Ghosts with the same unresolved business to create a shared Anchor. And it is the shared anchor that lets the crew combine their talents, much as they did in life, to run a powerful Ghost Ship and unlock Numina such as Fortify Anchor. That's not to say it must be the only Anchor on board. The crew might be Anchored to the ship itself while a passenger is anchored to something in his cabin. As a Ghost Ship ages general wear and tear or the occasional bout of combat will gradually destroy it's Structure. The crew can use the Fortify Anchor Numina to replace lost points of Structure with Corpus. However if the ship looses it's last point of structure it no longer functions as an Anchor and is destroyed. A Ghost Ship which is mostly Corpus may have only a few, or only one, treasured pieces of the actual structure remaining. For simplicity the Storyteller may wish to assign the ship a Power, Finesse, Resistance and Essence value rather than giving attributes to the crew members. Since each ghost serving as crew can store Essence, a large Ghost Ship often has a large pool of Essence. If Ghost Ship contained weapons carries then it can still use them. If the weapons are still in good repair with supplies of ammunition then they function as normal. Otherwise they can be recreated out of Corpus with the Fortify Anchor Numina and fired with a point of essence for ammunition. The Essence cost of a full broadside can be huge, but such ships typically have a large ghostly crew and therefore the ability to store large amounts of Essence. 'New Numina' Anchor Mastery A Ghost with Anchor Mastery may interact with their anchor as though they were still solid. All crew on a Ghost Ship have it and use it to sail the ship. No Essence or roll is required for Anchor Mastery. Fortify Anchor Every Ghost would like the ability to repair their Anchors but the fact is that only when many Ghosts share the same Anchor and combine their powers can they unlock this potent ability. To repair an Anchor a ghost rolls extended Power + Finesse check. The target is twice the amount of structure to be repaired. Dramatic Failure: The ghosts attempts to repair the Anchor causes even more damage, a point of structure and essence are lost. Failure: The Ghost makes no progress. Success: The Ghost makes progress on repairing the Anchor. It takes two successes and a Dot of Essence to replace a point of Structure with Corpus but only a point of Essence to repair a point of Corpus. This essence can be regained by reducing the Anchors maximum Corpus by one. Exceptional Success: No extra benefit. Twist Anchor As more ghosts are linked to the same Anchor it becomes saturated with deathly energies. Becoming malleable and pliable in the ghosts will. A Ghost can roll Power + Finesse as an instant action to warp their shared Anchor. A purely cosmetic change like blood dripping down the walls requires one Success. A moderate change like increasing Durability by a point requires three Successes. A significant change, like turning a door into a wall requires five Successes. A ghost cannot create recognizable messages (without Ghost Sign) or affect anything not directly part of the Anchor. Twist Anchor may be used to Grapple. Call Fog Ghost Ships are often reported travelling within a thick fog, this Numina is responsible. By focusing their combined power in an extended Power + Finesse roll on the waters through which they sail the crew can cause it to release a thick fog. To hide, to hunt, or in the case of more self aware ghosts just because they think it's kinda neat. Call Fog can be used as a teamwork action, up to the Primary Actor's Finesse members of the same crew can join in. Cost: 5 Essence. Dramatic Failure: The water recedes from the ship, for the next hour it will appear float high in the water, regular people won't notice but any experienced sailor will have little trouble knowing something isn't right. For Ghost Ships which are more structure than corpus this can cause a serious hazard to staying afloat: -1 on Drive checks per 5 points of Structure. There is a maximum of -5 but with 30 or more structure the Captain must Succeed on a Drive roll every five minuets or capsize. Failure: Nothing happens. Success: A thick fog surrounds the ship. This fog has a radius equal to the ships Size in meters and lasts for one hour per dot of Power. Perception checks for the living are at -Power, but no worse than -5. Exceptional Success: Treat power as one point higher, maximum of 5. Press Gang Attrition can wear down the crew of a Ghost Ship as much as anywhere else. From ghosts destroyed in combat, caught at one of their other Anchors and exorcised or just worn down by time until useless to the ship, after a while there might be a need to give someone the King's Shilling. To Press someone requires that they are physically on-board the Ghost Ship and restrained. The Ghost rolls an Extended Power + Finesse vs Resolve + Composure. If the Ghost gets Willpower Successes before the mortal gains Power + Resistance Successes then upon death the mortal will find himself Anchored to the ship. This Numina does not last long, so most crews who use this Numina will kill the Mortal immediately. Because the Anchor is in a sense artificial, then assuming no other Anchors destroying the ship will free Pressed Ghosts rather than trap them in the Underworld. It is also worth noting that if the mortal agrees to join the crew then the Numina succeeds without rolling. Davy Jones Quote: "By the sweat of my brow, this be rightfully mine!" Background Long ago before he was Davy Jones he was John Fairwright. A sea dog and a privateer in service to England. Authorised by letters of marque he hunted merchants and Spanish treasure ships. He died following what would be his greatest prize, ignoring the warnings of his crew John perused treasure in the face of an oncoming storm. He got the gold but it was too late to find safety and all hands went to the Locker. Cheated out of his prize his soul refused to pass on, eventually it became Davy Jones – the Geist of all who were drowned by their own greed. Description Davy Jones is a skeleton. His bones rattle as he moves and his perpetually grinning skill glistens with gold teeth. He wears only the finest captain’s uniform which is perpetually soaks itself and driest itself out, the waterline visibly rising up and down his body like a weave. His pockets glisten with gold coins which overflow rattling through his ribcage and too the floor while his hand always holds a dusty bottle of finest red wine, it's quite something seeing him drink it without a throat. When he speaks, Davy has a Cornish accent. Storytelling Hints Is a man not entitled the sweat of his brow? Are the fruits of his labour not rightfully his? In death, as in life, Davy Jones is a man of powerful greed but tempered by a sense of justice. He has not taken anything he does not truly believe he's earned and supports all others in claiming what they're entitled too. Opposing Davy Jones is a dangerous prospect for he can command the sea and skies and is well versed at turning his opponents greed against them. He has an odd relationship with ships, and through them all technology. He feels as though he should be able to control them yet whenever he tries he feels his power twisting out of his grasp, as though he possesses the power but he has somehow lost the right to use it. Though he can't remember the circumstances of his death loosing an entire ship with all hands might explain it. Davy Jones Threshold: The Silent – Though he died through drowning it was his own greed that truly defined his death. Archetype: Bonepicker – As the death of those drowned by their own Greed, Davy Jones is a greedy Geist indeed. Psyche 3 Essence: 15 Attributes: Power 4, Finesse 4, Resistance 5 Willpower: 9 Defense: 4 Speed: 14 Size: 5 Corpus: 10 Keys: Cold Wind, Tear-Stained, Passion Manifestations: Marionette 3, Rage 2. Merits: Allies 3 (Ghosts of people who drowned because of greed) Davy Jones as a Bound Geist Like all Geists, Davy Jones is able to make the Bargain. There are several reasons why he may choose to do so: Desperation is always a possibility but he might do so because he believes the Sin-Eater to-be was cheated out of their rightful reward and the thought offended him. Or perhaps he made the Bargain because he believes something or another is rightfully his and he needs the bargain to acquire it. An outside possibility is that Davy Jones has become disturbed by his missing ability to command ships and seeks the bargain to discover why and overcome these limits. Keystone: an old ship's tiller Threshold: The Silent. Keys: Tear-Stained and Industrial. Skill: Drive. : Hunters They call themselves the Oceanographic Exploratory Society, amateur biologists and chemists looking for adventure on a bored weekend. In reality, they're just a bunch of bored upper-middle class managers who grab their rods and beers for a day or two away from the wife. At least, they were before something tried to sink one of their boats. Whatever it was nearly killed three of their number, and from that day the cell formed to find out more. Nicknaming themselves "The Ferrymen", the cell set out as often as it could, recruiting new members are office pools grew and shrank. As far as cells go, no one is better at finding oceanic monsters than these men. Though their methods are haphazard and their attitudes a little condescending sometimes, they make for a solid cell to each other. They're also more than happy to give other cells a chartered trip to their best spots, for a fair fee of course. The plastic veneer falls away when a creature actually appears. The cell will turn into a bunch of frat boys trying to hook Jaws, throwing any concept of a safe hunt away in order to surround the suspected creature with nets and gaff hooks. Several of their members have died this way, and the cell has very nearly lost a boat to larger prey. Harsh Mistresses: Spirits of the Seas Pad Sag-Ur Quote: “Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning.” Background For as long as people wished to get from A to B they have had to navigate. The Navigation Choir is one of the oldest Choirs of conceptual spirits and years of predation have brought many related aspects into their folds. Description Most Pad Sag-Ur have preyed on related Spirits such as map spirits or compass spirits. By integrating the essence of a more physically attuned spirit they take it's form as their own. Pure navigation spirits often resemble a globe adorned with navigation markings. When they give directions a Pad Sag-Ur animates. A compass needle points or a map draws the route. Storytelling Hints Pad Sag-Ur wants you to find your way, navigation is it's purpose. For a small dollop of Chiminage it will happily give you directions, a little more and you get yourself a guide. Barring magical veiling Pad Sag-Ur can reliably find it's way to anywhere in the same dimension as itself. Even when it's powers fail Pad Sag-Ur is very good at finding places the old fashioned way. Pad Sag-Ur Many Pad Sag-Ur have consumed enough related Spirits to gain a second influence but the Spirit presented below is the bear bones version. For the deluxe model add the Greater Influence Numina with an appropriate influence such as: maps, landmarks or GPS systems. Rank: 2 Attributes: Power, 3, Finesse 4, Resistance: 2. Corpus: 5 Essence: 10 (15 Max) Willpower: 5 Initiative: 6 Defense: 4 Speed: 17 Size: 3 Influences: Navigation 2. Numina: Chorus, Fetter, Gauntlet Breach, Pathfinder Ban Pad Sag-Ur can never deceive another on the subject of navigation. This includes lies of omission and misdirection. It may flatly state it refuses to give an answer and may make an honest mistake. If one suspects it might be making a mistake ask clearly how confident it is in it's directions. Lil Badur Quote: "Drown your tears in me, my dear. As you drown, my dear, in me." Background Drowning isn't exactly nice but at the very last moment it can feel almost, pleasant. Lil Badur are born from that last moment, the euphoria felt on the cusp from death. They were born for it, they live for it, and given the chance they'll make you die for it. Description Lil Badurs resemble slightly bloated waterlogged corpses. Most appear dressed in appropriate clothing, from sailors uniforms to swimming trunks. Some are weighed down by anchors, others manifest with as both corpse and scavenger fish who eat the corpse, all Lil Badurs have some trait along these lines to represent their deathly nature. Storytelling Hints As part water Spirits Lil Badur are never found far from water. They are drawn to negative emotions for the contrast gives strength to their euphoria inducing Numina. When hunting they attack their victims with tempting hallucinations, everything from alluring women to glittering gold, before using Rapture to draw someone into the water where it uses Ensnare to cause the water itself to hold someone down. Lil Badur Rank: 2 Attributes: Power, 4, Finesse 5, Resistance: 3. Corpus: 8 Essence: 8 (15 Max) Willpower: 7 Initiative: 8 Defense: 5 Speed: 11 Size: 5 Influences: Drowning 2, Euphoria 1, Water 1. Numina: Ensnare, Greater Influence (Euphoria), Greater Influence (Water), Hallucinations, Rapture. Ban: Lil Badur cannot use any Numina on anyone who wears a life preserver or a life jacket. Sharur Sar Quote: "Look at it. The last of its kind. Like you and I. If you destroy it, the world will never see its kind again." Background It speaks of a more primitive time, a more savage time. A time where starvation and survival were just a hairs width apart, when life and death depended upon the hunt. It knows these things because it is Sharur Sar, the king of the hunt. Description It's enormous. That's the first thing anyone notices. Sharur Sar is Is over fifty meters long. It's jaw is wide enough to swallow people whole by the dozen and filled with rows of enormous teeth. It's body is sleek and streamlined with four flippers. It makes a terrifying figure ploughing through the shadowed depth, if you can see it then it can see you and it wants to eat you. Storytelling Hints When close to Sharur Sar you could almost mistake the surroundings for a barren for it's truly empty. The reason is simple, Sharur Sar has eaten everything. The king of the hunt lives a nomadic existence, a one Spirit mobile banquet. Yet there is more to Sharur Sar than the hunt. He is the last of his kind, presumingly he ate the others. Once he was the spirit of a flesh and blood creature but the svalbard plesiosaurs are all gone. He understands this and remembers the pain he felt when half of his great hunt ended. This has left him great respect for the sanctity of the hunt. Every spirit he devours he leaves with enough Essence to reform, other creatures gain the same respect: He leaves them with the minimum they need to limp home; this can be as harsh as killing should his prey have a way to return from the dead. In turn Sharur Sar expects his prey to understand the hunt, you run, you hide, you seek shelter, you only fight in a corner. Know your place in the hunt or Sharur Sar will express his... displeasure. Be warned: Sharur Sar's charity has its limits, he will at a minimum fill someone's health track with Lethal damage. While he sometimes allows its quarry to escape, he won't end the hunt early to out of pity. There is one other thing that interests Sharur Sar aside from the hunt. Once long ago he ignored the world changing to focus on his feast. He daily lives with the consequences of that choice. If the world itself is threatened and the problem can be solved by eating someone or something then go to Sharur Sar but make sure it's worth the cost of asking such a dangerous predator to cross the gauntlet. Sharur Sar Rank: Estimated at 6 or 7. Attributes: Power, Incalculable, Finesse Incalculable, Resistance: Incalculable. Size: 30 Influences: Predation at an unknown level. Numina: (Those known about) Commune, Ghost-Eater (it is speculated that Sharur Shr's ability to eat Ghosts is part of a wider Anything-Eater Numina), Howl, Materialise, Material Vision, Pathfinder, Seek, Wilds Sense Ban: As the spirit of an extinct species Sharur Sar cannot bring himself to hurt a member of an endangered species. Spirits of an endangered species are fair game. Because of his enormous size Sharur Sar can't simply bite one person and avoid the animal she's carrying. Anyone holding, or even close to an endangered creature is safe. Sharur Sar guards knowledge of this ban carefully, Klurhogal, the Octopus Host Most Uratha who have heard about the Klurhogal, the Octopus Host, reject these stories as mere legends. Still, some few werewolves that consider the sea as their home know that there is a portion of truth deep down these legends. It is not enough to say that the Klurogal are mysterious because they are rarer than the Azlu and the Beshilu: the real reason of their obscurity is that they lurk on the bottom of the sea, the only place on Earth where the werewolf can't hunt them down. The ocean isn't the Uratha's home and the Forsaken know it. On the contrary, the Octopus hosts lives and prosper underwater since Pangaea was whole. The Legend There is no myth about the birth of the Klurhogal because only an handful of werewolves realized that they exist, even during the Pangaean times. Likewise, the Uratha have mostly forgotten the legend about their progenitor because, at least apparently, the Sleeping Emperor was not comparable to other preys such as the Spinner Hag or the Plague King, and his defeat was not the culmination of an epic hunt. The truth, as often happens, is far more complicated. The Sleeping Emperor was truly a powerful creature, a cold-blooded monarch that had few rivals among the spirit of the sea. He was a cruel tyrant that rejoiced in the suffering of the weak. To plague an human settlement with madness, warping the flesh of its inhabitants into nightmarish forms and then drown it under the waves, was a common pastime for that titanic mind. The few surviving legends describe the Sleeping Emperor as a colossal creature whose tentacles could obscure the sun even when most of his body remained underwater. There are stories that narrate of entire islands engulfed by his pseudopods and dragged down into the abyss. In those rare times when he emerged, the legends agree that his jet-black eyes were filled with an alien malevolence that the lesser minds could not bear to sustain. Those who lived on the emerged lands, even among his servants, knew almost nothing about the Sleeping Emperor, but they could tell that the mighty sea spirit resonated with darkness, ruin, madness and a perverse kind of alien majesty. From his underwater realm, he reigned supreme on all the oceans. Yet, for all his greatness and magnificence, the Sleeping Emperor soon desired to expand his kingdom and that is when, following his imperial proclamation, he declared war to the mainland. However, Pangaea proved to be a far more difficult prey than some remote island or isolated coastal village, mainly due to his guardian: Father Wolf. The God of Wolves had heard stories about the Sleeping Emperor's atrocities, but always postponed the hunt because the cruel demon was hiding too well to spend an extended amount of time at searching him, thus leaving the rest of the world unprotected. Left without options, Father Wolf grudgingly decided not to go after the Sleeping Emperor's blood. When the Sleeping Emperor boldly began to conquer the inland regions of Pangaea, he gave to Father Wolf the pretext that the mighty hunter was looking for. The Sleeping Emperor was a smart creature who quickly realized that he could not defeat the God of Wolves and, after a brief confrontation, ran back to the sea and hid among the waves. Still, he could not bear such affront to his royal person, and attacked the land once again. Once more, he was defeated, ran away and hid underwater. This happened for countless times, before that an enraged and frustrated Father Wolf howled his frustration to the skies, terrorizing everyone could hear him. It's now that the story gets stranger: Luna, hearing the rage of his beloved, decided to help Father Wolf. With her powerful intervention, in the blink of an eye, the level of the waters around the oceans fell drastically and the sunken chasm where the Sleeping Emperor used to hide became completely uncovered and dry. Father Wolf swiftly charged his shocked prey and grievously wounded him with a single blow. The Sleeping Emperor escaped one last time by spraying his ink into the eyes of the mighty hunter and flew into Earth's deepest abyss, where even Luna's power could not drain the water away. The legends of the Uratha about the Sleeping Emperor end here: the werewolves say that the spirit died that day by the effect of that single wound, a coward and weak enemy that was only able to hide from his opponents. Actually, the Sleeping Emperor survived, but was clever enough to admit his limits and never return to the surface, though it was immensely painful for him to recognize his inferiority. If a thing can be certain about the Sleeping Emperor, it is that he was incredibly patient and intelligent: he retreated from the world and hid forever from any other living being, no matter if it lived under or above the water, while at the same time he devised a plan to obtain his vengeance. The sea rapidly returned to normality and even then, the Sleeping Emperor remained hidden. After countless years, when he was certain to be believed dead, the Sleeping Emperor actuated the second part of his plan. Knowing that the wound inflicted by Father Wolf one day would have slowly killed him, the Sleeping Emperor teared himself apart with his own tentacles, spreading his blood and his ink through all the seas. That was the real day when the Sleeping Emperor died. And on that same day, the Klurhogal were born. Today & Tonight The Klurhogal infest the oceans since eons. They are almost the same number of the Azlu or the Beshilu, and even if they're scattered all over the seas, they benefit that from the fact that their natural environment protects them. Even under this relative protection, the Klurhogal prefer to inhabit the deepest zones of the ocean. Those few Klurhogal that come closer to the surface often includes different shards of the Sleeping Emperor's souls inside them. Then why, if an Octopus Host lives so undisturbed into the abysses, free to rejoin to its brethren, occasionally the Klurhogal emerge from their hideouts and attack the surface? The reasons behind this are simple. First of all, all the Hosts need to evolve and merge, and devouring other shards cannot allow this evolution forever. Soon, a Klurhogal feels that it has absorbed enough power to take the next step into its evolutionary path and to do that, it needs an element that is incredibly difficult to find into the depths of the ocean: a human. The hybridization is the only way through which an Octopus Host can express its potential and start to grow once again. Some successful Octopus Host came out the water, merged with a human host and then made return to the abysses to keep on searching to other Klurhogal's shards. Nobody know what monstrosities may hide into the darkest trenches of the ocean. The second reason, but perhaps the most important, is that Octopus Host simply cannot be satisfied by living underwater. Like their slain father, the Klurhogal feel the need to expand their dominions. Each one of them is a power-hungry tyrant that wishes only to carve is own realm in the world and then expand it as much as possible. Though weaker Klurhogal instinctively offer themselves to be absorbed if confronted by the stronger members of their race, they are also fierce and self-centered creatures who cannot help but to try to hoard as much power as possible. The surface simply is the quickest way to such power. Where the Azlu weave and the Beshilu gnaw, the Klurhogal conquer. They use their superior intellect to find the weakness of the local spirits and put them one against each other, they devise complicated schemes to increase their influence and analyze every aspect of their realm. A territory that falls into the clutches of a Klurhogal becomes infested by the Octopus Host's presence: patches of mollusk's flesh appear on the walls, the environment becomes covered by octopus suckers and, when the Klurhogal's influence over a Locus increases, massive tentacles erupt from the soil and wrap around anything that cannot oppose resistance. This is especially worrying for the Uratha, who not only find themselves in direct competition for territory on each side of the Gauntlet, but must learn to face the organised opposition composed by Spirits guided by the the Klurhogal's alien mind. The Klurhogal are smart, but until they start to devour other shards, their intellect is merely a conglomeration of cunning instinct and cruel impulses. Once they start growing, they truly become the cold-blooded intellects their heritage demands them to be. Lurker (Urhaplu) The typical unevolved Klurhogal, the Urhaplu, looks like an average cephalopod, not necessarily an octopus as the name of the Host may suggest. It grows larger and smarter every time it devours another Klurhogal. The only elements that can distinguish a Lurker from a regular animal are the excessive numbers of tentacles, the bones protrusion and spines that dot its body, and sometimes other strange appendages, like human fingers, crab claws or bat-like vestigial wings. Some of the more sinister Octopus Host have eyes not unlike those of a human. They primarily eat fishes and mollusk to survive. At this stage of evolution, the Lurkers act according to their instincts: they establish their own little territory and reign over it, hunting and killing whatever comes by and trying to expand it, while at the same time meditating upon the Sleeping Emperor's rage and fear towards the Uratha. Sometimes, especially if they have already absorbed other shards, the venture to the surface and hunt for unlucky humans. At this point, the Lurker cannot hybridize with an human body, but it can burrow into his body and control it for a limited period of time. This is not comparable to becoming a true hybrid, but it's always something more than being a slow mollusk. Once they grow larger by absorbing other Klurhogal, they are technically Aupulhu without human hosts. The Octopus Hosts rarely await too long before trying to merge with an human, but they are always careful before beginning the process. The average Lurker poses no threat to a werewolf in a fight. At the largest, it is Size 1, with roughly a Defense of 4, Initiative 5, Speed 6 and Health 2; its Attributes are largely no higher than 1, with the exception of Dexterity, which tends to be about 4. A Lurker’s bite is lethal damage, with an attack pool of three dice. Mental Attributes increase as the Lurker consumes others of its kind. Once the Lurker takes over a human body, it gains the physical Attributes of that body. Lurkers have very little by way of Skills, usually only about eight to twelve dots divided among Athletics, Brawl, Stealth and Survival. Once they take over a human host, they gain access to the host’s Physicals Skills. Weak Lurkers possess perhaps a single point of Essence, while those that have gathered one or two additional evolution points will have a couple of Essence points. Octopus Hybrid (Aupulhu) The most terrifying and sinister fusion of flesh and spirit occurs between a powerful Klurhogal and a human. Rather than merely possessing the mortal, an evolved Klurhogal physically and spiritually bonds itself with the human. The result is a terrifying amalgamation of mollusk and human — fearsome to behold and incredibly potent in battle. To the few Uratha that have met them and survived to tell the story, these hybrids are known as the Aupulhu. Aupulhu range widely in their capabilities. All start with at one dot in each Attribute, and divide a pool of dots among them from there. A weak Aupulhu might have about ten to fifteen dots to divide between its Attributes. One with more power could range from fifteen to twenty dots, and old and powerful Klurhogal can have twenty-five or more dots to spend. The Aupulhu vary widely in their abilities. A weak Aupulhu might have about as many Skills as its initial host. More powerful Aupulhu are built with increasing amounts of dots to spend, ranging from a total of 30 to 50 dots in Skills, depending on the Klurhogal’s level of experience. Aupulhu begin with 3 to 5 Essence, but grow accordingly powerful (at the Storyteller’s discretion) very quickly as they consume other Klurhogal and evolve further. There’s technically no upper limit to the amount of power an Klurhogal can have — a single, sufficiently old and scarred Octopus Host can challenge an entire pack of werewolves. For such creatures, anywhere from 20 to 50 Essence is feasible, depending on just how monstrous the creature needs to be. GENERAL ASPECTS Some Aspects are intrinsic to all Octopus Hosts of any age or level of evolution, and are marked as innate. Storytellers should feel free to convert appropriate Gifts and Aspects from other sources into shartha Aspects if they seem appropriate. These lists are far from complete; they are merely guidelines for the style of magic possessed by the Spirit Hosts. AMPHIBIOUS (INNATE) As it can be expected from their material counterparts, all Klurhogal are perfectly suited for living under the bottom of the sea, without fearing most of the environmental perils of the depths. Still, they are also able to live above the oceans. It is rare for a Klurhogal to stay away from the water for an extended period of time, but this is merely due to their preference for the marine environment and not to an intrinsic weakness. BREACH THE BARRIER(•) The Klurhogal can mimic the werewolves’ ability to cross between the worlds. A Klurhogal with this Aspect can step sideways in the presence of a locus as a werewolf would (see Werewolf: The Forsaken, p. 250). PRESERVE THE HOLLOW SHELL (•) Though the Klurhogal are vulnerable to the speedy degeneration of their stolen human bodies, this power helps maintain the masquerade for a little longer. A stolen body decays at half the usual rate if the Klurhogal possesses this Aspect. SPIRIT SIGHT (•) The Klurhogal are aware of the dangers of the Shadow Realm and often devise convoluted schemes to exploit it and its denizens. With this power, which many Klurhogal use a great deal in the physical world, the Octopus Host can perceive what occurs on the other side of the Gauntlet. The Klurhogal rolls Wits + Occult. Success allows the Klurhogal to extend one sense across the Gauntlet; each additional success allows the Klurhogal to extend another sense across the Gauntlet, to a maximum of all five physical senses with an exceptional success. TOXIC STING (•••) The Klurhogal may spend one Essence as a reflexive action after making a successful melee attack. The victim loses one point of Stamina for every success scored on the attack roll. (The victim’s player may make a reflexive Stamina + Primal Urge roll to reduce this Stamina damage by one point per success.) The victim’s Health trait may be affected by the loss of Stamina. Stamina lost to this power recovers at the same rate that the victim would heal aggravated wounds. UNEARTHLY HORROR(•••) With this Aspect, the Octopus Host is able to unleash the terror of their alien nature into the mind of any beings that witness his demonic presence. The Storyteller spends one of the Klurhogal’s Essence and rolls Presence + Intimidation in a contested roll against the Resolve + Composure of each creature that can see the Klurhogal. Resistance is reflexive. (If a crowd sees the Octopus Host, roll the highest Resolve + Composure in the crowd for the whole group.) If the Octopus Host loses or ties the roll, all beings in the area are unaffected and are immune to uses of this power for the remainder of the scene. Beings that lose the roll flee from the spirit and will not return to the area for at least one day. PREDATORS’ SHRIEK (••••) This Aspect allows the Klurhogal to overwhelm a victim’s mind for a short while with a burst of psychic fear. Unlike other supernatural compulsions to obey, this power forces the target to slavishly obey out of sheer terror. The Klurhogal rolls Presence + Intimidation against in a contested roll against the target’s Resolve + Composure; resistance is reflexive. Each success forces the victim to obey a single command made by the Klurhogal. Even Klurhogal unable to form human speech are able to use this Aspect, as the “command” of this power is sent through a crude form of instinctual telepathy. The target obeys the commands as best he is able, though he will betray signs of fear and unease while he does so, such as sweaty palms and a rapid heartbeat. Individuals with low Willpower might even weep as they frantically attempt to carry out the orders given to them. Note: Some Klurhogal possess a variant of this Aspect known as Magnificence of the Depths. The roll for that Aspect is the same as Predator's Shriek, but the target obeys through a hazy desire to do so, rather than through inflicted terror. Urhaplu Octopus Aspects The weakest Klurhogal remain in their cephalopod form until they absorb enough of their brethren to advance in size and intelligence. These uhraplu are usually solitary creatures and prefer to wander alone among the ocean, but sometimes collaborate with other of their kind. The Lurkers feel no compulsion to absorb each other: they willingly do so once one of them recognizes to be weaker than another uhraplu. Even at this point, the uhraplu usually have high Mental Attributes. All Klurhogal have 1 evolution point at birth, which must be spent to purchase Mind Flayer, but many increase this to 2–4 as they consume the souls of their fellow Octopus Hosts. At 5 evolution points, after devouring the souls of at least four other Klurhogal, the uhraplu is ready to Join with a human and create one of the Aupulhu — if it chooses to do so. All Klurhogal who wish to remain in their cephalopod forms instinctively know when they are “sated” and have gathered enough of the Sleeping Emperor’s soul to remain as powerful and effective uhraplu. COLONY MASTER(•) Prerequisite: Mind Flayer The Klurhogal’s presence in the host body acts as a lodestone for spiritual corruption. With this Aspect, the Klurhogal’s divine soul ravages the Essence remaining in the host body and taints it with spiritual foulness. For every hour the Klurhogal possesses the human, a tiny cephalopod will form and be given parasitic life in the host’s stomach. These little mollusk swarm through the host body within a matter of days, eating away at the person’s muscles and bones. Such appetites ruin the host, subtracting a dot from a Physical Attribute each day, but confer two sinister advantages. The Klurhogal can use these cephalopods to attack its foes, sending them out of the body for a short time to attack individually or as a swarm. The swarm gains no additional bonuses other than that it is more difficult to kill a hundred octopuses than a single one, but the attacking cephalopods sting with a Toxicity 6 venom. The cephalopods return to the host body after attacking by entering the host’s ears, nose and mouth, unless they are killed before doing so. Also, if the host body is killed or otherwise destroyed, the Lurker can flee the body amongst the swarm of mollusks, using them to conceal itself and increase the chances of escape. COSMETIC ALTERATION (0) This Aspect is a common one, though serves no purpose outside of actually betraying the Klurhogal cephalopod’s unearthly heritage. As such, it costs no evolution points. NON LINEAR THOUGHT PATTERNS (•••) Human beings tend to think logically and linearly: man is a problem solver that moves from Point A to Point B and so on. The minds of the Klurhogal are different: the Octopus Host don't suffer from such limitations and may solve problems and puzzles more comprehensively, or even backwards. The Klurhogal gains the 8-Again quality on the following Skills: Academics, Computer, Investigation, Occult, and Science. Further, the Unskilled penalty is reduced from -3 dice to -1 die. KING'S RIGHT (•) Prerequisites: Mind Flayer, Composure •• Inside each Klurhogal lies a tiny shard of the Sleeping Emperor's royal greatness. This Aspect allows a Klurhogal to mask its fearful "aura" felt by perceptive mortals, and creates an air of authority and majesty between the host body and anyone interacting with it. No roll is required, but the Azlu gains a +2 modifier to all Social dice pools for the duration it is within the host. MIND FLAYER (INNATE) The Klurhogal has carved an hole into a human's back, has squeezed itself inside it and has attached itself on the vertebral column of the unfortunate victim. Here, the Klurhogal forces its tentacles through the circulatory system. Killing the host and using it's flesh like a puppet. No roll is required, but the process takes approximately half a day, from the moment the Lurker enters the host’s organism to the moment it possess control of the human’s body and memories. Once a human is possessed in this manner, there are subtle signals that betray the changes in the host. The Klurhogal’s absorption of the human’s memories is rarely perfect, and the imitation can seem forced and transparent to those people who know the controlled host well, the gory hole on the back needs to be covered somehow, and a small tentacle occasionally sprouts from an orifice. Generally, the impersonation will fool most people, but a close friend or relative can make a contested Wits + Composure roll against the Klurhogal’s Intelligence + Composure. Any degree of success alerts the witness to something significantly different or wrong with her friend or relative, such as severe memory loss or a drastic personality change. In many cases, an Klurhogal goes through several, perhaps dozens of human hosts over a relatively short span of time. The Klurhogal sheds the host’s fragmented memories each time it leaves a person’s spinal cord, and has no recall of the knowledge it gained from possessing any previous bodies. In some cases, Klurhogal do keep the information from host to host, but it is a confusing and unintentional event. The host body will begin to decay after one to two weeks, at which time the Lurker will usually leave the body and prepare another to suit its purposes. On average, the rotting host body will lose a dot of Appearance and a Physical Attribute every three weeks due to decay, and will smell absolutely foul. The body will become unusable when it is reduced to zero Physical Attributes. STRONG MEMORY (•) When a Klurhogal feasts on his host’s memories, the recall is often fragmented and unreliable. Klurhogal with this Aspect have a near-photographic level of recall, storing the host’s memories and even her personality with near-faultless efficiency. The Klurhogal a +2 modifier on all Social rolls to “play normal” when deceiving the people who know the possessed host. Aupulhu Aspects The Aupulhu are the part-human, part-octopus monstrosities created when an Klurhogal merges its profane essence with the body of a human. The Aupulhu base form is assumed to begin as a normal human: one head, two arms, two legs, hips, waist, torso, etc. Each Aspect bought when creating the Aupulhu counts as one of the mutations the creature possesses when it awakens from the metamorphosis. Everything not altered by an Aspect remains human in appearance, barring development of the unique Aspect: Mutated Octopus. Mutated Octopus. The Aupulhu base form awakens from the Joining with the same Physical Attributes that the human possessed in life, but uses the Klurhogal’s Mental Attributes, as the Octopus Host is now the dominant consciousness within the creature. The Klurhogal keeps all Skills that the human host possessed, although traits such as Drive (for example) are going to be a great deal less useful to a half-octopus monster. It also keeps the human Speed and Size factors of 5. To begin construction of a hybrid, each Aupulhu must begin with the Aspect: Aupulhu Joining, and each Aupulhu Klurhogal must possess the Octopus Flesh Aspect. The number of points an Aupulhu hybrid have to spend on all these developments really depends on the Storyteller’s chronicle and the power levels he has set in his game. As a rough guide, the newborn and weakest Aupulhu will have between 8 to 16 evolution points. Most will have consumed a cluster of other Octopus Hosts before undertaking the Joining, or will do so very soon after. More advanced and competent Aupulhu will have 17 to 25 points to spend on Aspects, and most of the hybrids the Uratha encounter are around that power level. The mightiest Aupulhu will have 26 or more to spend, and these are the Octopus Hosts that are capable of taking on an entire pack of the Forsaken, especially when fighting at sea. AUPULHU JOINING (•, MANDATORY) Prerequisite: 4+ evolution points This is the prerequisite Aspect for any Aupulhu development, representing the actual Joining ritual itself. A Octopus Host that consumes enough of its kind to reach five evolution points is no longer considered a standard uhraplu. It usually seeks out a human host immediately to begin the Joining, but some Klurhogal bide their time until they have gathered a great many soul-shards. In the more common case of the former circumstance, the Klurhogal strangles a human with its tentacles until the victim loses consciousness, and wraps itself around the helpless mortal's head. Then, the Klurhogal penetrates some of it's tentecles into the human's mouth, makes its way to the inner chest and, spreads them through the circulatory system. As it does so it spyays it's Essence, portions of its form taking on tiny separate polyp forms and entering the human body. After a few minutes, the octopus is no more than a dried hollow shell, devoid of life, and the Klurhogal’s soul has entered the unconscious human. The metamorphosis takes between 24 and 48 hours, during which time the mutating Klurhogal is utterly prone. When the change is complete, the Aupulhu hybrid awakens. It possesses the complete memories and knowledge of the human host, although such information is considered utterly secondary to the Klurhogal’s own drives and desires. DEMONIC SIZE (•••) The Aupulhu is seven or more feet tall and weighs in excess of 250 pounds. He is +1 Size (and thus +1 Health). Note: This Aspect replaces the use of the Giant Merit in the World of Darkness Rulebook. It can be taken multiple times to increase Size and Health further, up to three separate times. BEAK (••) The inside of the hybrid’s human mouth is grotesquely mutated into that of a cephalopod. The teeth fuse together in a vicious beak and the Aupulhu gains a bite attack (2 L). Klurhogal with Beak find communicating in human language next to impossible, as their mouths are almost unable to form the appropriate shapes and syllables. To communicate even remotely intelligibly (in any language other than the First Tongue), the Octopus Host must make a Composure roll. BONELESS BODY (•••) Prerequisite: Octopus Flesh (••), Mucusflesh (•) This Aspect allows a Aupulhu to squeeze through openings that it might not normally be capable of bypassing. After spending an Essence point, the Klurhogal is capable of squeezing through any aperture that it can fit its head through, fully emerging on the other side on its next turn. Until its next turn, the Klurhogal does not gain the benefit of its Defense. Moving thus takes one instant action per 10 feet of passageway through which the Klurhogal must travel. EVERCHANGING COLOURATION (•••) Prerequisite: Octopus Flesh •• The flesh of the Aupulhu is highly sensitive to its surroundings and quickly adapts to them. As long as the creature remains still, it gains three additional dice to all Stealth rolls that involve remaining unseen. Moving up to its Speed in a turn reduces this bonus by one die, while moving at greater than his Speed results in loss of two bonus dice. Wearing drab clothing reduces the bonus by one die, normal clothing by two dice and vivid clothing eliminates the bonus entirely. FACIAL TENTACLES (••) The mouth of the Aupulhu becomes surrounded by an handful of bizarre tentacles. When using these tentacles to accomplish most physical endeavors where an additional limb will assist it (climbing, grappling and other physical undertakings), the Octopus Host with this Aspect gains three additional dice for the effort. The tentacles themselves itself can be used as a hand on its own, but they loses two dice from Dexterity-based dice pools. They also add three additional dice to all Grappling Rolls. HYDRAULIC MUSCLES (•) The Aupulhu develops the surprising muscle fibers of true cephalopods, in each of its human and octopoid limbs. This greatly increases the hybrid’s physical strength, agility and fortitude, allowing the Aupulhu to overwhelm its foes with greater ease. This Aspect can be taken multiple times, and each purchase raises one of the hybrid’s Physical Attributes by 1, to a maximum of seven in each. IMMUNE TO PAIN (••) The hybrid is able resist to the worst wounds and to isolate the pain, preventing them from affecting its existence. Wound penalties do not apply to the Octopus Host, no matter how badly it is hurt. Stamina rolls to remain conscious aren’t made when a bashing wound is marked in the Aupulhu’s rightmost Health box. It remains conscious automatically, collapsing only when a lethal or aggravated wound is marked in that box (and the character is dying or dead). INK SACK (• to •••••) The Aupulhu can expel a cloud of dark ink to confuse its predators. This Aspect can be purchased up to five times. Using the ink count as an immediate action against a single target. Hitting an enemy with the ink requires a contested roll between the Aupulhu's Dexterity + Firearms + Ink Sack - target's Defense against the opponent's Stamina + Supernatural Advantage. For each success exceeding its opponent's roll, the enemy suffers a -1 modifier to all rolls related to vision for the remainder of the scene. LIDLESS EYES (•) The Klurhogal's eyes are mutated to adapt to the lack of light of the abyss. This brightness means the Klurhogal can see perfectly in even complete darkness. LIQUEFY (•••••) Prerequisite: Boneless Body The Aupulhu can dissolve into a thick, dark, sludgy liquid, move around, and reform again. While retaining the mount’s original mass, it can slip through small cracks and down drains. The goop won’t be hurt by conventional weapons, but can be damaged by fire or freezing temperatures. Melting and re-forming each requires a point of Essence, take two turns, and is a sight guaranteed to put the fright into most any observer. While in liquid form, the Octopus Host cannot attack or use other Aspects, although it could drown an unresistant victim by flowing into the victim’s lungs. Drawback: Movement is at only at a walking pace; halved when going uphill. Visual perception is at –3. If the hybrid attempts to reform without access to all its mass, it will lose health levels proportionate to the loss (at the Storyteller’s discretion). LIMB: ARMS (••) The Aupulhu develops an additional pair of human arms that grow just below or above the arms it already possesses. These arms add a +1 modifier to all rolls involving arm strength (such as lifting, carrying, grappling or inflicting brawl damage). This Aspect can be taken multiple times and the modifiers stack, though no Aupulhu can develop more than 12 limbs. LIMB: LEGS (••) Prerequisite: Octopus Flesh The Aupulhu develops a set of extra legs in addition to those it already possesses. The legs may be human or octopoid in appearance, and confer a +1 modifier on all dice rolls involving balance and running. This Aspect can be taken multiple times, and the modifiers stack. For example, a Klurhogal that takes Additional Legs three times gains six additional legs and a +3 modifier on all balance and running rolls. While this Aspect can be taken multiple times, the factor must be borne in mind that no Aupulhu can develop more than 12 limbs. LIMB: TENTACLES (••) The Octopus Host limbs grows a pair of grotesque tentacle. A tentacle is not capable of wielding a weapon, but the Aupulhu can strike foes with great force, inflicting +1 bashing damage on an unarmed strike. A tentacle is also extremely useful for grappling, granting a +2 dice bonus to grapples. It may also prove useful in other situations, such as climbing. In such situations, the Aupulhu gains a +2 dice bonus. Additionally, if the tentacle is used to aid movement, the Aupulhu’s Speed is increased by one per tentacle so used. This Aspect can be taken multiple times, but no Aupulhu can have more than 12 limbs. This Aspect can also be taken to represent the change of any two of the human’s original limbs to huge tentacles. MALICIOUS BLOOD (••) The Aupulhu’s blood becomes a corrosive, burning acid that reacts violently with anything it comes into contact with outside the Klurhogal’s body. Whenever the Aupulhu is wounded, corrosive blood spurts out of the wounds, causing two automatic points of lethal damage to anyone within arm’s reach. Success on a reflexive Dexterity + Wits roll negates this damage. MUCUSFLESH (•) The Aupulhu's flesh exudes a greasy, sticky, or mucuslike discharge at all times. It is therefore very difficult to grapple the character: any grapple attempts against this alien character suffer a -5 penalty. MUTATED OCTOPUS (••••) Prerequisites: At least eight limbs in total, Beak, Octopus Flesh, Superior Brain •, Hydraulic Muscles •••. The Aupulhu’s entire body is that of a gigantic octopus, approximately the size of a small car. Most Aupulhu that take this shape do so many years after merging with humans, but a rare few have gathered the power necessary (and the luck required) to assume this form immediately upon their first hybrid Joining. The Aupulhu gains Str +3, Dex + 4, Sta +3, Manipulation –3, Size +3, and 2/1 armor due to the cephalopod’s thick hide. NEUROTOXIN (••) Prerequisite: Vicious Brawl The Klurhogal with this aspect becomes a terrible foe. The Aupulhu body now produces a potent neurotoxin and anyone that suffers at least one point of damage from the Klurhogal’s unarmed attack becomes poisoned. This acts as a Toxicity 8 poison that weakens the immune system and lowers the victim’s resistance to disease. Humans and animals afflicted in this manner could potentially develop a fatal illness (at the Storyteller’s discretion), and Uratha suffer a –1 penalty to all Stamina rolls for a relatively short duration: (10 – Hishu Form Stamina) days. OCTOPUS FLESH (••) Any parts of the Aupulhu that remain human in shape are covered with a rubbery, brittle layer of skin not unlike that of a mollusk or cephalopod. This flesh can appear in a lot of different ways and often changes its colour depending on the Host's mood. The Klurhogal gains 2 armor against general attacks and 1 armor against firearms attacks, with no reduction to Defense. SWARM DISCORPORATION (INNATE) This Aspect is the fabled power of the Hosts that allows them to survive the total destruction of their bodies. If the power is used voluntarily, the process is automatic and requires no roll. If the Octopus Host has been killed and reduced to zero Health, the Klurhogal must succeed in a Wits + Survival roll. Success means that the Aupulhu’s body instantly breaks down and dissolves into a number of small cephalopods. Lurkers do not break down, of course, already being the smallest they can possibly be. An Aupulhu hybrid is likely to break down into several hundred, or perhaps even one or more thousand if the creature is large enough. A possessing Lurker will not discorporate if the host body is killed unless it also possess the Colony Master Aspect. With this Aspect, the Aupluhu’s skin melts away, hundreds of mollusks pour out and instinctively search for the nearest body of water. The Klurhogal's original soulshard is contained within one of these creatures, and flickers from one cephalopod to the next if the creature is killed. If even a single one of these cephalopods escapes unharmed, the Klurhogal survives as the lowest, weakest Lurker, and must begin the whole process of evolution and possession again. The other mollusk die within a day, as they are little more than potential receptacles for the original soul-shard. This Aspect is innate to all Aupulhu . The Storyteller should apply his judgment to the scattered mollusks and their escape, because the rules for combat can’t accurately simulate the Health of a swarm of tiny mollusks and the damage they would take from being stomped while fleeing across decks, floors and wharves. SUCKERS(•••) The Aupulhu is covered by hundreds of little suckers, not unlike those of an octopus. An Aupulhu with this Aspect gains a +4 bonus to Athletics rolls involving climbing, as well as a +4 bonus to checks to instigate or maintain a grapple. SUPERIOR BRAIN (•) The Aupulhu develops even further his alien intellect and cold instinct. It grows exponentially smarter, improves its abilities to resolve problems and stay calm in front of the danger. This Aspect can be taken multiple times, and each purchase raises one of the hybrid’s Physical Attributes by 1, to a maximum of seven in each. VICIOUS BRAWL (••) The skin of the Aupulhu is covered with lamprey-like mouths, serrated bone shards, barbed spines or another kind of organic weapon, that allows the Klurhogal to inflict lethal damage on any unarmed strike. This extrusion add 2 dice to all dice pools involving climbing with the hybrid’s hands. WINGS (••••) Prerequisite: Octopus Flesh, Facial Tentacles and at least 30 evolution points. A set of batlike wings sprouts from the Aupulhu’s back. This Aspect is extremely rare and treasured among the Octopus Host. It represents the ultimate incarnation of the Sleeping Emperor's sovereignty on the world's laws: the creature coming from the seas that conquers the earth and tames the air as well. An Aupulhu with wings can fly at his normal Speed as an instant action. Mr Lanun Quote: "Human resources. What a delightful phrase. Human resources, human resources..." Background Mr Lanun awoke to find itself in a small pond. It was surrounded by tiny spirits: Spirits of water drops, spirits of algae, weather spirits of the tiny currents found within a a couple of feet of water. Few were even self aware and with no trouble at all Mr Lanun made himself their king. His pleasant existence was shattered the day they built a school on the lands ajacent to the pond. his eyes were opened to so much more and he decided he would quite like to conquer it. The grand invasion was slow in coming, hidden in his small pond Mr Lanun studied everything about the spirit politics and even the mortal politics before he made his move. As the students departed for the summer he took control of the original Mr Lanun, the teacher in charge of admissions and ever so carefully manipulated the new intake to remove the best athletes before “retiring” his body. This small change had a surprising effects on the local Hisil. The athletics Choir, long the dominant power, found it's superiority threatened. In the chaos and infighting Mr Lanun met in secret with minor powers, he took credit for the chaos and bargained: Be loyal to me and I will bend the Hisil to your pleasure. A Choir of party spirits, lust spirits, even beer spirits made the best offer and so Mr Lanun set to work. Selecting the correct intake, a quiet word here, occasionally encouraging a teacher to move on. Within three years a school renowned for it's athletic achievements had been reformed into the best party school in the state. The Spirits grew fat on Essence and Mr Lanun grew fat on their loyalty. His downfall was his own success. Having conquered his territory Mr Lanun set about investing in it. He commissioned public works, meaning he identified rich sources of Essence and told everyone to keep their hands away until he had formed several Loci. As his territory became more successful it became tempting, a neighbouring pack of Iron Masters attempted to take if for their own. The Uratha were unaccustomed to organised defences by the Spirits, meanwhile Mr Lanun was unaccustomed to combat. The Werewolves waged a bloody gorilla war, the two sides fighting each other to a bloody standstill. Swallowing their pride the Iron Masters realised that it was in their best interests to abandon all hopes of taking the Territory and focus instead on just removing the threat on their doorstep. Contacting other Iron Masters they identified several packs with young protégées looking to start a Pack and offered a plum territory for any new Pack in return for help pacifying it. In the face of this onslaught Mr Lanun was force to retreat. Defeated but not disheartened, the had worked, he just needed a little practice to perfect his technique. Appearance Mr Lanun picks hosts at the right place in whatever organisation he is trying to subvert. This more than anything else, in fact this alone, governs his appearance. His hosts can be of any gender or race but are usually at least moderately well off. When he can get away with it Mr Lanun favours tasteful suits. Where ever he goes Mr Lanun is followed by Mr Falamar and Missus Hannah two bodyguard Spirits (literally, they're Conceptual Spirits with the Influence Bodyguards) who resemble rough unformed men of clay stuffed into cheep suits. Storytelling Hints Mr Lanun's scheme for domination goes through several recognisable stages like clockwork. He starts with a single organisation with a strong internal culture and a rapid change in membership. It could be another school, a start up company expecting to double it's employee numbers, a real estate agent for a newly opened block of flats. The first stage is observation, he will not move until he knows about both the spirit politics and the mortal politics. The second stage his chaos, he takes a host and uses his knowledge of the mortal politics to collapse the established pecking order in the Hisil. After letting the chaos simmer for a while he moves to stage three: Bidding. Appearing before several groups of Spirits Mr Lanun essentially auctions the Hisil. In stage four he returns to the mortal world and uses his influence to set the winning bidders up as the kings of the local spirit world. Stage five is profit. 'Mr Lanun' Attributes: Intelligence 7, Wits 2, Resolve 3, Strength 1, Dexterity 5, Stamina 2, Presence 2, Manipulation 4, Composure 3. Skills: Occult 3, Politics 3, Athletics 2 (Swim), Brawl 1 (Grapple), Stealth 4, Empathy 1, Intimidation 3 (with goons), Persuasion 2, Subterfuge 3. Virtue: Charity. If you want to be a successful ruler you need loyalty from the masses. Mr Lanun always endeavours to see those loyal to him are richly rewarded. Vice: Greed. More territory. More control. More Essence. Mr Lanun is insatiable. Essence: 15 Willpower: 6 Defense: 2 Speed: 11 Size: 1 Corpus: 3 Aspects: Breach the Barrier, Preserve the Hollow Shell, Toxic Sting, Non Linear Thought Patterns, King's Right, Mindflayer, Strong Memory. Merits: Retainer 3, Retainer 3, Language 1 (English), add more as he progresses through his plans. The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Demons and Abyssal Intruders Calico Jack Quote: "Ten souls, that is the agreement." Background The story begins with the Marqués Galeazzo. Swashbuckler, privateer, demon summoner. Blending native knowledge he uncovered in the Caribbean with his own independent research he summoned demons and made infernal pacts for superhuman abilities that wowed the court and raised questions between powerful figures. Lets just say the Spanish Inquisition was entirely justified when they sent a party of men to try and apprehend the Marqués. The attempt failed and so wounded the Marqués fled to the docks and set sail. Knowing that his time was limited Galeazzo attempted his grandest act of infernal sorcery yet. He summoned a Diaboli and promised to write him a Dark Testament. The two battled through the subtle dance of sorcerer and demon. Eventually the Testament was complete, as Galeazzo intended it bound the Demon Jack against using his powers on the Marqués. As Calico Jack intended there was a glaring loophole. Using none of his powers he left the cabin and revealed himself to the crew. The resulting riot left no one alive but the Demon. It wasn't the best Testament a Demon could have but you took what you could get, Calico Jack took the wheel. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me." Description Jack doesn’t dress like a sailor, he always wears the finest silks beneath a clean shaven face and a mop of golden blond hair. He's slightly androgynous and takes a perverse thrill in never raising his voice or acting in anger. Storytelling Hints Like all Demons Calico Jack wants one thing: Sweet Sin. He's got it in abundance too. The Inquisition caught up with Galeazzo the very next day (no one being alive to crew the ship might have had something to do with that) and despite their best efforts word got out and a Mythology formed around these events. The demon who always lets the secret out to the righteous mob. Demonologists summon Calico Jack at sea, partly because that's how the myth goes partly because if you set it up right there's no mob at sea. It's possible to summon him by accident too, a desperate man at sea perused by enemies just might get a visit. When he's capable Calico Jack had been known to hunt the sea in a rotting ship of black sails crewed by the damned, anyone chased by that is sure to be in the right frame of mind for Jack to pay a visit. Of course this requires delicacy, it wouldn't do if anyone realised he's causing the threat he promises to protect people from. Calico Jack Attributes: Power: 4 Finesse: 8 Resistance: 3 Malpraxis: '''Calico Jack likes to strip away what he calls the thin layer of civilisation and expose the animal beneath. His Malpraxis is Wrath caused by Fear. '''Willpower: 7 Infernal Rank: 3 Initiative: 11 Defense: 8 Speed: 17 (Species Factor 5) Size: 5 Corpus: 8 Essence: 20 Demonic Aspects: Aura of Corruption, the Dragon’s Tongue, Keeper of Secrets, Lord of Lies and Sense of Sin Numina: Create Pact, Materialize, Perfect Lie. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Manes, Geniuses and Orphans The Alcyoneus Quote: Pugio in Averso Belli – the motto of the Adaptive Cruisers. Roughly translates to: "Weapon dagger used to avoid war." Background The Alcyoneus is the last of the adaptive cruisers, a line of warships commissioned by the Navigators and built by the Artificers first for the Invisible War and then for the Martian Invasion. The adaptive cruisers were fast, mobile, designed to get past enemy lines and construct their own support fleet on the move. While legendary in their effectiveness the technology was expensive, often unwieldy. The second generation used against the Martians was a stripped down version from the original line that served in the Invisible War, the third generation was scrapped in the planning phases in favour of simpler more robust designs. The Alcyoneus herself went down with all hands in the north Atlantic trying to execute a classic hammer and anvil strike against a Martian airfleet travelling from Britain to the United States. While Skafoi fliers blockaded the Martians the Alcyoneus was to flank the opposition. Severe mismanagement meant that by the time the Alcyoneus arrived the humanity’s air-fleet was already destroyed. Undeterred she led her small squad of autonomous strike craft into battle, reinforcing their number almost as fast as they were destroyed. Only when the stocks for the mighty Creation Engines ran dry did the Martians finally sink the Alcyoneus, she went down with all hands and was presumed destroyed. In fact the Alcyoneus survived, though the crew did not. What sunk her was massive structural damage to the hull, all the vital components were intact. Over a period of months the automatic self repair systems began to patch the hull while separated from it's creator the cruiser became an Orphan and went into Stasis. Description The Alcyoneus resembles two miniature sized aircraft carriers joined together by a common command section. It's built in heavy iron styles of military practicality and stained by years of lying underwater. It's most notable feature is one of the most subtle, behind the command section is a small hanger bay leading to the Creation Engine itself. Storytelling Hints The Alcyoneus has the mind of an atavistic animal concerned only with survival and feeding. This arguably makes it even more dangerous, a smarter ship would at the very least be able to hit what it aims at, rather than relying on “spray and pray”. If someone is foolish or unlucky enough to wake the Alcyoneus it would do little more than roam the seas at random surrounded by loyal strike craft seeking sources of Mania on which to feed. The Alcyoneus Skafoi 1 Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 1, Strength 4, Dexterity 1, Stamina 10, Presence 1, Manipulation 1, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Drive 1, Firearms 1, Larceny 1, Stealth 1, Survival 1, Weaponry 1 Merits: Mane 1, Calculus Vampire Willpower: 2 Obligation: 0 Size: 30 Durability: 20 Structure: 50 Initiative: 2 Safe Speed: 250 mph Maximum Speed: 375 mph Acceleration: 125 mph/turn Handling: +3 (roll 5 dice) Mania/Per Turn: 5/1 Integral Wonders: Reinforced Hull: Prostasia 2, Durability Multiplier x4, Size 5 Creation Engine: Automata 5 Factory, Size 15, Variables: Integral, Dynamic Factory (Moderate Dynamism, any Wonder of Skafoi + Integral Wonders) Main Guns: Katastrofi 2, Size 5, Range: 5 Miles/10 Miles/20 Miles, Explosive Force: 3 Variables: Charge-up Time (5 minuets), Integral, Autofire, Explosive Weapon (20 yards / 40 yards), Railgun. Automatic Repair: Exelixi 1, Size 0, Core Modifier: 0, Variables: Integral, Self Only. Radar: Apokolypsi 3, Size 3, Range 10 Miles, Core Modifier: +2, Variables: Integral, Narrow Focus (radar only) Communications Array: Apokolypsi 3, Size 2, Range: 1000 miles, Core Modifier: 0, Variables: Active Scanner, Integral. The Deep Ones: Leviathans Caym Background Caym is one of the many casualties in the Tribe's eternal search for self identity. Before he was a Leviathan the man who would become Caym was a moral person who had never hurt another soul. He retained that wish after his inheritance and after a few disasters involving his Wake he resolved to isolate himself from mankind for their own safety. Cast adrift at sea, without companionship to anchor him Caym lost his mind. Description Caym has lost all traces of humanity, these days he resembles nothing more than a kelp forest free floating on the ocean surface which covers a surface of roughly four miles. Unusual but hardly unprecedented for the Tribe. Noticeably sea life avoids the Hungry Forest except for little orange and silver koi fish which can be seen hiding within the forest. There's a good reason for this, Caym is very very poisonous. Storytelling Hints Caym is a simple character to portray because like all Typhons he is quite literally a wild animal. His descent for Bahamut means that while a very territorial creature Caym is also a passive one. He is asleep and if undisturbed is unlikely to wake up for centuries however if he is disturbed, well that's a very bad idea indeed. A simple disturbance such as sailing over him won't rouse Caym from his slumber, but as he sleeps his dreaming mind exists in unity with the entire forest. He can direct it to grow rapidly clogging engines and propellers, even growing through a a metal hull tearing a ship to shreds. The sailors that drown in the poisoned waters below become a feast for the koi. Actually attempting to destroy Caym, now that will rose him. Caym's physical body is the koi fish, every single one. When awoken he is likely to reintegrate them into one form, an enormous fish, it's body symbiotically colonised by aquatic plant life. He's not particularly strong for his size, though when you weigh around thirty tons that's not saying much, instead of brute strength Caym retains his control over plants and supplements it with horrors born form his own flesh: Nightmarish fusions of fish, bird and plant that obey his every command. If roused sufficiently to wake Caym will pursue his grudge to the ends of the Earth. Caym Note: Caym uses the same dice pools whether he is asleep or awake. Attributes: Intelligence neg, Wits 3, Resolve 5, Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5(7), Presence 1, Manipulation 1, Composure 1. Skills: Medicine 1, Athletics 3 (Swim), Brawl 2, Stealth 1 (Aquatic Forests), Survival 4 (Plants), Intimidation 2 (threatening swarm) Strain: Bahamutan Sheol: 4 Defense: 3 Health: 36 Size: 25 Speed: 10 Initiative: 3 Willpower: 6 Channels: One Brain Many Minds, Uncrowned Fisher King, Magnanimous Host to All (Athletics, Stealth, One in Many 4), Womb of Terrors (Open Hide, Reflexive Genesis 3), Everflowing Fetid Growth (Toxicophore 3, Spore Filled Blood 1, Rapid Rot 3, One swamp one mind), The Toad's Curse, World-Serpent's Endurance, No Mysteries of the Flesh. Mermaid Melody: Magical Girls Flotsam and Jetsam: Even Weirder Stuff Sea-djinn? Merfolk? Whalekin shapeshifters? Selkies and kelpies and nixies, oh my! See also: the fan-made WoD gameline Siren: The Drowning.